Business is our beat: Why Chamber Business News is your new go-to business news source Glenn Hamer June 4, 2018 I’m going to start out your Monday morning with some good news. This isn’t a column about Russian meddling in the election. It’s not about a looming trade war. It’s not about North Korea.…

An absolutely transformational moment for Arizona’s teachers Glenn Hamer May 3, 2018 The Legislature Thursday morning adopted a $10.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2019. The cornerstone of the package is a three-year, $700 million infusion of funds to raise average statewide teacher salaries 20 percent by 2020. This plan was backed strongly…

Arizona businesses value teachers Glenn Hamer April 14, 2018 Governor Doug Ducey last Thursday announced his plan to ensure that Arizona’s teachers receive a 20 percent pay raise by the start of the 2020 school year. His proposal would raise the average annual teacher salary from $48,372 to $58,130. It’s the…

Did you see the headline of today’s Arizona Republic? If you’re an Arizonan who still subscribes to the print version of the state’s newspaper of record, you walked out to your driveway Friday morning to find a headline asking whether Gov. Doug Ducey, by signing legislation to extend a critical funding stream for public education, is…

The budget Gov. Doug Ducey proposed earlier this month calls for significant new resources for Arizona’s K-12 education system. It’s a wise investment. No K-12 system in the country has been moving up the achievement charts like ours.

In his State of the State address the governor said, “The most compelling argument for investing in our schools is that they are improving.”

Arizona’s 4th-graders and 8th-graders have made more gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card) in math, reading, and science than any other state in the years 2009-2015. If you’re looking for rising achievement, look to Arizona.

With a major tax reform bill signed into law and the deregulation of the economy in full-swing, this is the time to make progress on some of the major elements of immigration reform and protect and, ultimately, modernize NAFTA so we can lock in a decade or more of 3 percent economic growth or better.

What does Linda Valdez get wrong about Gov. Ducey’s engagement with Mexico? EVERYTHING! Glenn Hamer January 7, 2018 Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday announced the launch of an international air logistics center that will speed the processing of cargo to and from Mexico and Latin America and that will result in the creation of 17,000…